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"Glue"
With author Irvine Welsh
Wednesday, June 6, 2001; 2 p.m. EDT

Scottish author Irvine Welsh has been widely hailed as one of the most talented writers today. His first novel, the best selling "Trainspotting," achieved worldwide success and inspired an international cult following. His subsequent works "Acid House," "Marabou Stork Nightmares" and "Filth" have only reinforced his literary stature.

Incorporating multiple perspectives, biting black humor and his trademark Scottish vernacular, Welsh's new book "Glue" follows the lives of four boys growing up in the Edinburgh projects.

Welsh was online to discuss his new novel, his past works and his future plans.

The transcript follows.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

Washington, D.C.: Hi Welsh,
I was wondering how you, as a person, have changed since your first book, "Trainspotting," came out? And do you think your writing style has changed, from "Trainspotting" to "Glue?"

Ben

Irvine Welsh:
Ben, I've become richer and older, never the best combination for one's character. Close friends tell me that I haven't changed at all, but they might just be being kind.

My writing style is basically the same, but i'm probably more confident now.

Washington, D.C.: What music have you been listening to lately?

Irvine Welsh: Check out the new Basement Jaxx album, and also Alabama #'s Le Peste.

Rawlings, Ga.: Who are you reading these days? Or do prolific writers even find the time to delve into the work of others?

Irvine Welsh: I've just finished John King's new book White Trash, which I thibnk is great, with one of the most powerful endings i've read in a novel. But that's because i've been on loads of planes. generally, you're right, if you're busy writing you don't want to spend time reading. I feel I should make time to read more.

Somewhere, USA: Do you have a favorite among your own work? Who else's work do you find inspiring?

Irvine Welsh: My favourite is Marabou Stork Nightmares. I like Alan Warner and John King's books. Maybe it's because they're pals. And also Gordon Legge and Laura Hird.

Arlington, Va.: Any comments on Ewan's performance in "Moulin Rouge?" He has a great voice. Did it make you wish "Trainspotting" had been a musical?

Irvine Welsh: Haven't seen Moulin Rouge, heard it'as not very good. Delighted Trainspotting wasn't a musical.

Alexandria, Va.: Considering some of the cities you are listed as living in, especially Amsterdam, how closely does your own life mirror the various partying-lifestyle descriptions in your books?

Irvine Welsh: Absolutely!!!!

Tysons Corner, Va.: What is your prediction for Hibs in the UEFA Cup next year? Any chance they might mount a serious league challenge next year?

Irvine Welsh: Hibs won't mount a serious league challenge - we don't have enough money to run the size of pool you need for a 38 game campaign. Watch us go in the UEFA Cup though!

Washington, D.C.: I loved "Catholic Guilt (You Know You Love It)" in "Speaking with the Angel" - one of the funniest short stories I'd read since "Acid House." I had two questions: first, how'd you get involved with the project, and second, is that your own personal vision of hell? If not, what is?

Irvine Welsh: Nick Hornby stays up the road from me, and I occassionally run into him in Lee's record shop. Nick was good enough to give up his time to take part in a Trainspotting football charity match in Glasgow, but that's the sort of person he is. I was happy to contribute to a great cause.

Every other story I write is my own personal version of hell. That one comes close to the top though.

Chelsea - New York City: Could you discuss the process you use when outlining how to tackle a novel? I'm in the initial stages of writing my first novel -- I know the characters in detail, their motivations, story arc, etc. -- but am floundering with how to go about writing in the most efficient and productive manner. Advice?

Irvine Welsh: Remember that writing is re-writing, and you have to have something to rewrite. Don't look at the first few chapters until you've finished a rough first draft and build it up. Three sections, introduction, conflict and resolution. Get typing now!

Washington Circle, D.C.: I remember going to see the movie Trainspotting and going directly to the book store afterwards to buy the your book and also to pick up the CD.

How did it feel to have your first novel made into a movie?

Irvine Welsh: It was good to have the book made into a film, but the biggest buzz was finishing the book.

Lenexa, Kans.: Mr. Welsh,

Our son considers you his favorite contemporary writer. Should his parents be proud or concerned? Thanks.

Irvine Welsh: That's not really for me to say. One thing I would say is that people reading books should understand always that they are just that, and other people's fictions and stories are no basis on which to live your life.

Springfield, Va.: How do you find the U.S.? Be honest. And blunt.

Irvine Welsh: Loves: American lassies, the big cities, openess, warmth, generosity, positiveness, consumer choice, multi-cultural society.

Hates: parochialism, over consumption, racial segregation (their seems more apartheid in the Cities than South Africa.

Arlington, Va.: Is that the same John King who wrote "Millwall Away?"

Irvine Welsh: Yes.

Arlington, Va.: How much do you attribute your success in America to the "Trainspotting" film? How did you like the adaptation of your work?

Irvine Welsh: It certainly didn't do me any harm, and because of that, I have to love it.

Australia: Hi Irvine, it's Melza here. Do you remember me from the other Web chat when you were in London? Just wanna say I'm looking forward to reading and seeing your upcoming work!
Any chance that you will be visiting down under? Hope so, bye from Melza

Irvine Welsh: Hi Melza, yes, I rememeber!

Washington, D.C.: Mr. Welsh,
Your work never seizes to amaze me, so thanks.
I have enjoyed your short stories in the past, especially one of the funniest pieces I have ever read, "Disnae Matter." Wondering if you plan or hope to publish a collection of shorts anytime.
Also, I was wondering how you began your career, what type of work you did to survive when you were very young and how much rejection you encountered early on.
Thanks!

Irvine Welsh: Thanks.
I want to do more stories and probably the next book after the one i'm finishing now will be a collection.

I did a lot of crap and quite good jobs, and I never really got into writing until I was 30. I was lucky in that Trainspotting was the first thing I wrote, so I never had the big ego knock of rejection. I've had all that with music though, so I know what it feels like!

Virginia: What is "Glue" about? Not the plot, but the themes.

Irvine Welsh: Virginia:
Buy it and find out! You're supposed to be great consumers in the USA! Try Amazon.com and they'll give you a synopsis of it.

Butte, Mont.: Picking up on an earlier exchange about writing and reading other work, how does a writer guard against unconsciously 'plagiarizing' something you've come across? Have you ever discovered or had it pointed out to you that a character or plot hook is eerily similar to something else in print?

Irvine Welsh: Yes, i'm always ripping people off. I heard that one story from the Acid House was like an old Roald Dahl story, which I hadn't read, but you might hear somebody talking about it and it sticks in the sub-conscious. You can't help it, you just need to be honest. We're all inspired by things around us, but blatant plagurism is different. I think you always really know the difference.

Wilmington, Del.: I was lucky enough to read a signed copy of Transpotting from a Scottish (Alistair a chemist from Glasgow) friend of mine. He said he met you at Glasgow Arts & Literature festival or something like that. Anyway, many of the topics in your books are very psychologically dark and depressive and very anti status-quo, mainstream society. Are you that way too? Do you consider have good mental health?

Irvine Welsh: Sometimes I feel a bit guilty because i'm generally quite a cheerful, upbeat soul. I think you can be dark and anti-establishment, but it's best done with a smile on your face. Too many rebels are dull, serious and po-faced about things.

Alexandria, Va.: Your books are very strange but that's why I love them! Have the experiences you've had in your life greatly affected the tone your books tend to take?

Irvine Welsh: Yes, I think that what happens to you in your life is a massive influence on what you write, even if youre not aware of it at the time or it takes a while to come through.

Austin, Tex.: When did you know you wanted to write for a living? I know lots of folks who want to, but damned few who can pay the rent by stringing words together. What was your first real success as a writer that indicated to you and others that you were one of the chosen few?

Irvine Welsh: I never really wanted to write for a living. I just got the urge to write, and anything else was a bonus. Most writers I know feel the same, whether they sell millions or a few hundred. I was lucky that my first book was a commercial success, but if it had flopped i'd have kept right on, although I wouldn't have had the time to do as much writing as i do now. Sometimes people confuse writing with publishing and book sales.

San Diego: What next Welsh work will be made into a movie?

Irvine Welsh: Filth is being made into a film, although i'm doing an orignial flimscript for BBC films with my pal Dean Cavanagh.

Somewhere, USA: Rumor has it that you are a playwright as well. What have you written and has anyone ever talked to you about doing one of your plays in the U.S. (if they haven't been done already)?

Irvine Welsh: I did a play called You'll Have Had Your Hole. I'd love some theatre company in US to take it up.

Arlington, Va.: Have you read any of David Sedaris' work?

Irvine Welsh: No, I can't say I have. Should I check him out?

Arlington, Va.: Hey there, are any of your other books being adapted into films? Do you do the screen adaptions yourself?

Irvine Welsh: Acid House has been made into a film. It's coming out on DVD and video in three months in the USA.

Washington, D.C.: You said you like Alabama 3, what do you think of "The Sopranos" whose theme song they perform?

Irvine Welsh: I loved the first series, but it lost it a bit on the second.

Arlington, Va.: What do you think of the European Union? Are you active politically?

Irvine Welsh: The European Union is a scam for the rich - like all politics and nation states really!

Chicago: If you were to do a non-fiction turn, what would the subject matter be?

Irvine Welsh: Hibernian Football club

Harrisonburg, Va.: If you could force every living person to read five books (that aren't yours) what would they be?

- A Student

Irvine Welsh: John King - Human Punk, Alan Warner - Morvern Caller, Niall Griffiths - Grits, Laura Hird - Born Free Janice Galloway - The Trick is to Keep Breathing, but I don't believe in forcing people to read, well, except my books.

Toyland: Do you feel like you have been pigeonholed at all as far as the tone or style of your work? Do you ever want to say "screw it" and write a children's book bout bears and picnics?

Irvine Welsh: No, I love writing about what I write about. But I do have a novella coming out in November, where the hero is a southern sudanese witchdoctor. (honest!)

Hingham, Mass.: Would you ever consider publishing your work directly on the web, a la Stephen King?

Irvine Welsh: I have a website irvinewelsh.net set up by my pal Johny Brown from the band of Holy Joy. On this you'll find two outake chapters from GLUE which were cut out of the book for pace. You can only read them there, and free of charge.

Washington, D.C.: Did you receive any complaints from Millwall fans after the publication of "Catholic Guilt (You Konw You Love It)"?

Irvine Welsh: I have a lot of close friends who are Millwall fans and they love it. Generally football punters know where i'm coming from. What's your team?

Washington, D.C.: Why is dialect - and writing phonetically - such a big part of your work? And do you get many Americans (and English, I guess) complaining about how difficult it is to read Trainspotting?

Irvine Welsh: I can't be bothered with standard English in a novel. I find it boring. It's bland and not very funky. You'd never put up with it in cinema or t.v. or records, so why in a book?

I think most people now want something diferent from the same narrative voice all the time, and they welcome the change and challenge.

Wilmington, Del.: Wilmington again -- city of credit card companies. I think you do an excellent job in portraying psychic anguish -- Marabou and Ecstasy. However, you do seem like a cheerful person. How do you separate your job -- writing life and characters -- from your real life. I'm a technical writer and I tend to view / breakdown things into processes and have an analytical bent in my thinking. I believe that most people's worklife tends to spill over into their personal life. So I was wondering how you accomplish your perpetual cheerfulness--Prozac?

Irvine Welsh: I'm quite relaxed about things. Nothing good or bad lasts forever, so I try to enjoy the highs and tuff it out through the lows. Prozac i've never really got on with. If it's proscribed it can't be any good, that's always my motto.

Arlington 2.0: Alright, this may be a stupid question, but how do you know when you are done with a book? Are there things you wish you could change of any past works? Do you ever re-read them after they have been published?

Irvine Welsh: You're never done with it. I think you get to the point where everytime you go back to it, you make more of it worse than you do better. I think that's when you reluctantly let go.
It's far from a stupid question, it's one every writer struggles with.

Washington, D.C.: Does our MLS get any rspect in the UK?

GO UNITED! (not Manchester)

Irvine Welsh: No

Brooklyn, N.Y.: What are the personality differences between the English and the Scots? (Editorial Comment: I much preferred the Scots!)

Irvine Welsh: It's hard to say. I think Scotland has a more earthy, working-class culture, but England's working class have started to claim their culture back to. I love both sets of punters in these country's, but obviously, I 'd never let the English know that!

Somewhere, USA: Any thoughts on the fast approaching election in England?

Irvine Welsh: I'm glad i'm in the USA!

Arlington, Va.: Bret Easton Ellis seems like one of the other authors willing to go right to the edge, what do you think of him?

Irvine Welsh: I think Bert Easton Ellis is a very important writer, much more so than the other metropolitan writers who get lumped alongside him.

Arlington, Va.: Did you feel pressured to include a dictionary at the rear of Trainspotting? If not, why didn't we get one in Filth or Glue?

Irvine Welsh: I didn't really think a glossary was essential, but the publishers know America better than me. I think they felt that a lot of people might have got it by the time Filth and Glue came along.

Alexandria, Va.: What sort of music did you play? Do you still?

Irvine Welsh: Dance music, yes, I still love it.

Lakeland, Fla.: Speaking of your pal Nick Hornby, I loved what Hollywood did with High Fidelity, but it's About a Boy I'd really like to see on the silver screen.

Irvine Welsh: I must confess, I haven't read About A Boy. I'm sure it's excellent though, and no doubt it'll be highly filmable.

Arlington, Va.: Did you see Guy Ritchie's Snatch? Do you think they copied Trainspotting?

Irvine Welsh: I haven't seen Snatch, but I did see Lock Stock, which I enjoyed. I don't know if it copied Trainspotting, but that's what it's there for.

Fort Worth, Tex.: You are very popular in the states and I was wondering have you ever considered writing a character who comes from the states?

Irvine Welsh: In Glue there's an American singer. I'd love to do more American characters, and Aussies and everywhere else. As long as they live in a Scottish Housing scheme!

Irvine Welsh: Thanks to everybody for writing in. It was good to talk to you. And yep, i'll check out David Seradis. All the best and I hope you all get everything you for.

Love

Irvine

washingtonpost.com:

That was our last question today. Thanks to everyone who joined the discussion.

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